What is Nationalism? Not What Democrats Think

Nationalism is encouraging the president, Congress, or the Supreme Court to create laws binding on every citizen and every state. The definition taken from The Federalist 39 tells us who the real nationalists are: the Democrats. After all, it’s the Democrats who are fond of abusing national power. From New Deal price fixing to mandatory health care, the Democrat’s nationalist plot has chained Americans to the unchecked meddling of the nanny state.

But here’s the surprising thing: pure federalism cannot solve the problem of an intrusive national government. In fact, pure federalism nearly destroyed America.

Between 1781-1788, the states’ total independence under the Articles of Confederation just wasn’t working out. Conflicts between the states were rampant and nearly impossible to resolve. Worse, individual states lacked the forces needed to stop foreign invasion. There was also no mechanism to stop the states from trying to conquer each other.

To fix the situation, the Founding Fathers had only one choice: to re-found our country by ditching the Articles of Confederation.

The Founding Fathers presented us with the national benefits of a common and more tradeable currency, a stronger military to protect all citizens, and a stronger judiciary to resolve disputes between states. But even in the new Constitution, the Founding Fathers still kept some federalist ideas from the Articles by offering constitutional compromise. Americans would get the federalist benefit of participating in government without jeopardizing the future of the country. Furthermore, the potential for tyranny and despotism was limited by the states’ participation in presidential elections. In other words, the Founding Fathers set us up with the best benefits of both national and federal governments.

Since the ratification, aspiring tyrants and hateful aristocrats everywhere have failed to overthrow the awesome power stemming from this creation. Even Queen Hillary and her desperate squad of campaign flunkies couldn’t beat our republic. This proves nationalism is no match for a mixed government.

About The Author

Zigmund Reichenbach is a graduate student attending West Chester University. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Philosophy with a special interest in political philosophy, believing that past solutions to political problems can be found and applied today. You can reach out to Zigmund on Twitter (@ zreichenbach1) or email @ZigmundEReichenbach@gmail.com